The Obama Administration has said that public readiness is a priority and has taken steps to strengthen the involvement of Americans in their own homeland security. However, officials acknowledge that there is still a ways to go. I present these proposals to help move forward citizen preparedness on a local, state and national level. I hope these suggestions can be a useful addition to the policy discussion and have submitted it to the Federal Preparedness Task Force. As always, I welcome your feedback:

1) CREATE CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS TASK FORCE — The lack of progress to date on public readiness and engagement underscores the need to develop new ways of approaching the issue. DHS Secretary Napolitano should create a Citizen Preparedness Outreach Task Force to assess the current state of public readiness and work on developing new approaches. At present, there is no clear social education analog to civilian emergency preparedness that can be easily pulled off the shelf so it will take some work to develop an effective program. In fact, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in its final report recommended the Administration make citizen engagement a priority. But Chairman Bob Graham told me that the ‘WMD Commission’ did not did not find anything suitable it could recommend, and that something new has to be developed.

2) BETTER DEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “PREPARED” “READY” AND/OR “RESILIENT” — An American Red Cross survey indicated that 93% of Americans are not prepared for disasters. The truth is that no one can be fully prepared, but there is a need to offer the public a clearer definition — including a minimum level — of preparedness. That might include creating a family communications plan and storing tangible supplies but also knowing more about potential threats that every American should know. That doesn’t mean overwhelming people with too much information, but making sure they are at least familiar with some basics. (For example, the first time citizens hear about a ‘dirty bomb’ from government officials should not be in the moments after one has been exploded.) In addition to the content questions, there is also a word meaning issue to deal with as well. The Obama Administration has been emphasizing the concept of societal resilience. Should emergency management officials be talking about citizen resilience in their communities rather than preparedness or readiness?

3) SUPPORT & REPORT ON STATE/LOCAL PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS — Provide adequate seed money for state and local government to bolster civilian preparedness programs and link the grants to performance. Encourage authorities to report publicly on their level of citizen preparedness and create metrics for better measuring civilian readiness. Find interested governors to take on leadership roles and create pilot models in their states. There is a need to employ both “bottom/up” and “top/down” approaches to disaster preparedness combining state, local and community leadership and citizen involvement with federal commitment and focus. Ensure that government authorities can competently respond to disasters but also more strongly emphasize the need for the public and local communities to be prepared and self-reliant, particularly in the first 72 hours after a disaster.

4) HIGHLIGHT & SPREAD MODELS FROM AROUND U.S. & OTHER COUNTRIES — There is a need to help promote and implement best practices from communities around the U.S. and draw, where applicable, particularly from British and Israeli experiences. One model may be the United Kingdom’s National Risk Register, which sets out publicly the government’s assessment of the likelihood and potential impact of a range of different public health, natural and terrorist risks. It is designed to increase awareness of the kinds of risks the UK faces, and encourage individuals and organizations to think about their own preparedness. The Register also includes details of what the Government and first responders are doing to prepare for those emergencies and the role of citizens in those plans

5) USE ‘CARROTS’ TO CHANGE PUBLIC BEHAVIOR – Provide a tax write-off for citizens to buy preparedness-related products as a way to promote participation and to signal governmental commitment. Encourage states to create tax-free periods as is being done in Virginia and Louisiana (and has been introduced in the New York legislature). Also, consider targeting assistance to citizens who cannot afford to prepare. The fact is that when we really want to change social behavior as a nation we do it through the carrot or the stick. The carrot is the preferable tool for this issue, but it needs to be used. And, thus far, incentives (and vegetables) have largely been missing from the preparedness effort, which helps explain the lack of progress. Similarly, preparedness disincentives in the law should be removed (ie. in some places, homeowners who retrofit their homes face higher tax assessments.)

6) BRING IN BUSINESS TO DEVELOP INTEGRATED ‘WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN’ PUBLIC PREPAREDNESS MARKETING CAMPAIGNS– Design and roll out a full service preparedness marketing campaign with help from the private and non-profit sectors. Galvanize business to take on disaster preparedness in the same way they have with disaster response, most notably in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (ie. big box stores, packaged goods manufacturers, bottled water companies, wireless industry). Work with companies in preparedness-related businesses to offer major discounts tied to citizens taking actual readiness steps recommended by Ready.Gov and local emergency management offices.

For example, individuals and families come into ‘big box’ stores with emergency communications plans (or fill them out in the store) and in return they would receive a significant discount on supplies or free products (ie. if you purchase a case of bottled water, you would get your emergency supply thrown in for free). And if a customer signed up to volunteer for CERT or the Red Cross Disaster Services, they would get a bigger discount. Mobile phone retail stores would be excellent settings for preparedness events/trainings to help people register for government emergency text/e-mail alerts. I’d also like to see an event/photo-op with kids teaching their parents about texting and its role in an emergency. Here again, the companies would offer customers extra free text/phone minutes for completing the preparedness step.

7) DON’T BE AFRAID TO TELL THE CHILDREN — Put more emphasis on educating young people on preparedness by piggybacking on other related school-based social education efforts, most prominently fire safety. The challenge is the both the decentralization of the nation’s education system and the already high curricula demands on teachers. Yet, an effective fire education program was implemented in the schools beginning in the 1970’s, and there would seem to be a perfect fit to integrate a preparedness module into that existing program. The federal government should work with state and local officials as well as fire and education officials to determine how best to accomplish that objective.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate recently suggested expanding the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program for young people. I believe that a decision to expand CERT-type training in the schools would be welcomed on a bipartisan basis.There should be more public briefings on how personal tech would be helpful in an emergency, before the emergency (including how Twitter, Facebook and one’s smart phone can be invaluable). Further, every governmental preparedness web site should add a cell phone and an extra battery (or other power source) to the basic components of their recommended disaster supply kit.  Many private companies are working on applications for citizen emergency communications. Those business efforts need to be integrated with official alerts (ie. the new iteration of the Emergency Alert System) and unofficial citizen-based social media (as well as the news media). Both the content and distribution channels of emergency communications are changing and new models need to be developed.

8 EMBRACE AND ACCELERATE PREPAREDNESS 2.0 – There is a need to better inform the public on the potential of 21st century personal technology to prepare for and respond to 21st century emergencies. We must make Americans more aware of the capabilities of the technology at their fingertips (ie. wireless devices, social media sites) in advance and integrate it into disaster planning and response. The public’s new ability to access and distribute information offers both an opportunity and a challenge to government authorities.

There should be more public briefings on how personal tech would be helpful in a crisis, before the crisis (including how Twitter, Facebook and one’s smart phone can be invaluable). Further, every governmental preparedness web site should add a cell phone and an extra battery (or other power source) to the basic components of their recommended disaster supply kit. Many private companies are working on content and distribution applications for citizen emergency communications. Those business efforts can complement official efforts (ie. the new iteration of the Emergency Alert System) and unofficial citizen-based social media (and well as the news media). One hugely promising initiative is CrisisCommons which over the past year has created groups of volunteers throughout the world to bring technology to bear on disaster response issues.

9) FIND POLITICAL, CELEBRITY PREPAREDNESS SPOKESPEOPLE – During the time that I have covered the topic of citizen emergency preparedness, one of the most surprising things I’ve found is that there is no major elected official who has taken the lead on the issue. It’s surprising for a number of reasons: natural disasters and terrorism dominate the headlines and will continue to for the foreseeable future; citizen preparedness is pretty much an unassailable, bipartisan, patriotic and community-building topic; and even the smallest interest in Washington has at least one political champion (but not public preparedness). And, with much to do, there is a great opportunity to have a positive policy and political impact. To some in the readiness community, the absence of star power on the issue has been one reason for the lack of public attention. Though celebrities have been eager to participate in fundraising efforts after catastrophes like the Haiti effort), there is no big star who is singularly identified as a spokesperson for emergency preparedness.

10) GIVE THE PUBLIC MORE INFO SO THEY CAN BETTER PREPARE & PARTICIPATE – There is a need to better inform the public when it comes to disaster preparedness so they can not only ready themselves and their families but also be part of the policy debate. Let me mention two areas briefly:

a) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): In its report, the WMD Commission argues that the incoming Administration should make an effort to inform and engage the public on the subject of WMD’s. I agree. And, I suggest officials consider starting that process by defining (or redefining) what a WMD actually is. At present, it is most common to define a WMD for the public as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (or “CBRN”) weapon.

The Commission report, however, focuses primarily on the dangers of biological and nuclear terrorism, both of which could be absolutely catastrophic. By contrast, a chemical or radiological (better known as a ‘dirty bomb’) weapon could be very serious but would likely not cause as much lasting damage. In fact, both a chemical and radiological attack would likely be a one-shot event seriously impacting those directly near the event, closer in result to a ‘traditional’ terrorist bombing. A nuclear bomb or biological incident, however, could have wide and long-lasting ‘mass destruction’ impact to humans, property and the society itself. We don’t want the public — and the nation as a whole — to overreact to some threats and underreact to others.

b) Risk: I think it may be one of the most important homeland security subjects for both the government and the public, because it highlights some of the tradeoffs involved in determining how to allocate the nation’s security resources and the role of risk management in making those decisions. This is a debate which should include the public. Right now, Americans aren’t engaged in the discussion over the security, financial, logistical and time tradeoffs involved in our own homeland security.

We need to introduce risk management into homeland security which would lead us to ask and answer important questions: What improves our security and resiliency? And what can be done at a reasonable social and financial cost? Those answers should come not only from policymakers but with the guidance of the public itself.

The public should be asked: How much risk do you want to pay for? How much inconvenience do you want to deal with? These are dilemmas we deal with everyday in our lives; we need to bring that same approach to homeland security and disaster preparedness. FEMA’s Fugate has since his days in Florida made the point that natural hazards turn into natural disasters because of man-made decisions on development, including ubiquitous golf courses: “You can tee off in Tallahassee and play through to Pensacola,” he likes to say.  ”Unless the public understands we need to change where we develop and live, it won’t matter.” It is up to elected officials to present those choices, including building codes, levies and insurance incentives.

11) ‘SEE AND SAY’ SOMETHING MORE – Build upon the initial success of ‘See Something, Say Something’ -type citizen information campaigns by providing the public with more specific guidance on how to assist law enforcement and, without giving away sources and methods, offering more feedback on the information they have provided. Law enforcement officials are concerned about societal complacency nine years since 9/11, but have not determined how to communicate to the public a more candid – yet calm and balanced – picture of the threat and how they can best help. The Department of Homeland Security is expanding “See Something, Say Something” nationally, which is a positive development. However, there is still a need to better explain to citizens their role, particularly at a local level. One important question is how much of what new information and training given to law enforcement about terrorism prevention should also be provided to the public.

12) MEDIA SHOULD COVER PREPAREDNESS AS WELL AS DISASTERS – While the press does wall-to-wall coverage on natural disasters and has covered practically every aspect of terrorism story closely, it has largely overlooked advance public preparedness. By contrast, during the Cold War, magazines ranging from Life to Modern Farmer dedicated entire issues to civilian readiness. Obviously, the press’ role is not to serve as a publicity arm of the government, but it is a topic that deserves more attention. And without more media coverage, it will be difficult to break through to the public. One great example of the press as a unique asset is the list of preparedness tips and lessons learned from the disaster survivors that was collected by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

13) GOVERNMENT PREPAREDNESS OUTREACH NEEDS TO BE FAR MORE INTERACTIVE — Right now, if a member of the public has a question about the preparedness process, there is nowhere to go. And, as someone who does a lot of public outreach on street fairs, radio or in community meetings I hear a lot of questions from average citizens about emergency readiness — ie. Shouldn’t buildings have mandatory emergency drills? Shouldn’t everyone have a solar charger in your ‘go-bag’ to be able recharge a cellphone or radio? Shouldn’t you have an evacuation family meeting spot outside of the City in case there is major disaster? In case of an emergency, where should we go for information? The emergency management community on a national, state and local level must overhaul its public information operations to be able to address those questions directly and lead the public through what can be a challenging process to undertake.

14) ‘DO ASK, DO TELL’: MAKE “PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY” MORE CENTRAL TO PREPAREDNESS MESSAGING — Instead of telling people to prepare because it is a responsibility (you need to do this), government has used a softer ask when it comes to trying to get the public to prepare. To me, the it is time to try to do more “telling” and less “asking”. I don’t believe the government should be afraid to explicitly tell the public that each of us can either hinder or help relief efforts by what they decide to do before and during a disaster. And, that it’s up to each of us to choose.

If indeed preparing for disasters is a responsibility of citizenship (which I think it should be), then it should been positioned that way. PSA’s saying that people are imperiling the lives of first responders and their fellow citizens, particularly the vulnerable (ie. the elderly, disabled) not to mention your own family might be treated with a little more urgency. Another potentially useful messaging approach was suggested to me by former Miss Utah Jill Shepherd who used citizen preparedness as her pageant platform. It can (and should) be included in the preparedness pitch that readying yourself and your family for disaster at home is a way civilians can contribute to the nation’s resilience and complement the work and sacrifice of those serving in the military. Preparedness may be the most important contribution most citizens can make to their nation’s security. Not only will civilians likely be the first on the scene of a major emergency, but the nation’s response will only be as strong as the readiness of the weakest link. We have entered the ‘pro-am’ preparedness era where the government needs to hand off some responsibility and the public needs to take it.

15) INTEGRATE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS INTO OTHER COMMUNITY ISSUES — Emergency preparedness is an important issue, particularly during crises. However, it has a better chance of becoming ingrained into American society if it is viewed as part of other preparedness topics that are a more central part of Americans daily life, including public health (immunization), security (Neighborhood Watch), infrastructure and climate change, part and parcel of just being ready for any situation.

For example, the global warming campaign can and should be a model for civilian emergency preparedness in a variety of ways. The two efforts are complementary and should be linked closer together in the public’s mind — and actions. In both, society is being asked to mobilize in order to avert or mitigate potential disasters, and both are part of strengthening the nation’s general national resilience. Yes, global warming has some skeptics, but so does emergency preparedness — ironically they are often not the same people which may conveniently add to its complementary synergy.

16) EXPAND EMERGENCY DRILLING OPPORTUNITIES TO PUBLIC –Increase chances for citizens to participate in disaster drills, which would help people focus on the issue and work through the key questions everyone should ask before a disaster (ie. How will you get information and communicate with your family? Do you know the emergency plan of your children’s school?). Most every top homeland security/emergency management official I have interviewed has told me that broader public disaster exercises would be helpful in a number of ways, but there has not been a concerted effort to expand drilling opportunities to the public.

17) DETERMINE BEST USE OF CIVILIAN DISASTER VOLUNTEERS – Craig Fugate said recently that FEMA would be reevaluating the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). I think that as part of that review government and non profit officials should be looking at how best to recruit and deploy disaster volunteers. Post-9/11 and Katrina — as well as with international incidents such as Haiti — there has been great interest among the public to be involved in crisis response. A key question is how that asset should be managed. Should it be the government? The Red Cross? Other non-profits and faith-based institutions? Business? Or a combination of the four? One hugely promising initiative is CrisisCommons which over the past year has created groups of volunteers throughout the world to bring technology to bear on disaster response issues.

Fugate said that FEMA is considering major changes in the CERT program, including creating a shorter training course which could be offered to more Americans and significantly expanding training for schools and other youth groups in order to better imbed preparedness into society for the long-term. I’ve always felt that CERT training is less about the skills you learn and more about awareness about the community and the various emergency authorities (and identifying citizen crisis organizers in advance). To me, CERT is just basic citizenship training for the 21st Century, which I think every American should get a chance to receive. I might suggest that the smaller reduced curriculum be called something along the lines of “Citizen Resilience Training”.

18) ESTABLISH AN OFFICIAL PREPAREDNESS DAY — Create a National Preparedness Day to focus public attention before disasters, including briefing citizens, conducting drills, and filling emergency kits. A helpful model is Japan’s Disaster Prevention Day held on September 1st, the anniversary of the catastrophic 1923 Tokyo earthquake. Earlier this month, 670,000 Japanese participated in emergency drills around the country. China, since its 8.0-magnitude 2008 Sichuan Province earthquake, has also held two national disaster prevention days with nationwide drills.

If we as a nation feel it is really important for the public to develop emergency plans, it would be far more effective if everyone was doing that at the same time — rather than asking individuals to do it on their own. This ‘preparedness day’ would also be the time that we all asked the questions about planning then practiced and updated those plans. It would be useful for both responders and the public. I might suggest September 11th be made the U.S.’s official Day. It would seem to be appropriate to honor the memories of those who died by action, particularly something aimed at making sure America is never as unprepared again.

19) CREATE CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS OFFICE – Establishing a national citizen preparedness/resilience office to highlight and help coordinate efforts around the U.S. and ensure citizen preparedness remains a priority. Right now, there is not an identifiable place in the federal government that has responsibility for coordinating the public’s role in preparedness. Work with American Red Cross to create an effective advocate for the general public on emergency preparedness in the same way disabled and pet groups have done for the disaster needs of their communities over the past several years.

20) BUNDLE CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS PROPOSALS TOGETHER INTO “CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS INITIATIVE” – For too long, well meaning public preparedness efforts have gotten lost or have been ignored by the public. That’s in large part because they have not been packaged and presented as being specifically directed to citizens. But if the government would assemble these small disparate proposals listed above into an overall citizen preparedness package it would have a better chance of getting attention and gaining some traction. Ultimately, making inroads on citizen preparedness is less a matter of money than it is of focus and attention.

Brian and his fellow LAFD public information officers manage an unparalleled social media operation in the government emergency field, including a blog about to hit three million visits and a Flickr site with seven million views. The Department recently split its Twitter account in two: @LAFD, which is reserved for fire and accident reports, and @LAFDTalk, which people can use to ask questions about fire extinguishers or whatever else fire-related is on their minds. Brian gave a terrific presentation at the Red Cross event about his work that can be found on C-SPAN’s website.

In the two-and-a-half minute video below, I asked Humphrey what he would tell other emergency responder agencies, which have not yet embraced social media in their work, ”I encourage agencies and people to jump in the water. That doesn’t mean enter head first. But get in the pool.” He urges a patient approach in which officials listen, absorb information initially. But he points out social media is a “force multiplier” for emergency agencies in distributing and gathering information. And he notes: “If it works in Los Angeles, it can work in your town too.”

Humphrey cites an example of social media’s usefulness in the wake of the stampede at Germany’s Love Parade at which 18 people died. He says that in similar types of events, LAFD uses social media to monitor the situation before it gets out of hand. He also urges the public to sign up for their local government text/email alerts, which offer an opportunity to get emergency information even before its delivered by the traditional media.

LAFD Public Information Officer Brian Humphrey discusses the use of social media and personal technology in the emergency services.

Public preparedness is an atypical beauty pageant platform. But Shepherd does not have typical beauty pageant credentials. She had served as a combat medic for six years with the Utah National Guard (1st Battalion, 211th Aviation), including a year-long stint in Afghanistan at Bagram Airfield where she earned five medals for outstanding service.

Miss Utah & Army Combat Medic Sgt. Jill Shepherd

Shepherd entered her first pageant at Southern Utah University where she was studying for a degree in Nursing. But she was having a really difficult time coming up with a platform and did not want to do a traditional pageant “health and fitness” subject. Then, she drew a connection between her experience in Afghanistan where “you had to be ready for anything” with that  of natural disasters and smaller emergencies back in Utah that civilians also had to be ready for anything. So, she made citizen emergency preparedness, with a particular focus on schools and students, her pageant platform.

In fact, Shepherd says sees a connection between her military service abroad and citizen preparedness at home as both involve a commitment from citizens to contribute in times of crisis. It is a great point. Last week, I wrote a post about how Americans should view preparedness as personal responsibility and responsibility of citizenship. But I didn’t include the idea that preparing for disaster was a way that civilians could (and should) make a contribution to complement the work and sacrifice of their fellow citizens in the military. (I will be adding it to that previous post.) It would seem to be another good angle for preparedness messaging, adding to the “personal responsibility” approach.

Jill Shepherd being crowned Miss Utah.

Shepherd feels that preparedness twas a good fit with her background as a medic and what she wanted to talk about to audiences around the state (and believes it helped her win the Miss Utah pageant). She also reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Miss America pageant. Afterwards, Shepherd got involved with the TeenCERT program at Eastern Michigan University and did public speaking on behalf of disaster readiness for young people. She is now an emergency room nurse at a Salt Lake City children’s hospital.

After I posted this, I got a Facebook comment from Robert Buzzard suggesting that Craig Fugate at FEMA ask Shepherd to again become a spokesperson for public preparedness; I think it’s a terrific idea.

Shepherd doing a school preparedness event as part of her “Miss Utah” responsibilities.

So, it’s not surprising that the agencies are developing a special social media response team comprised of teenagers to assist the state’s efforts in dealing with disasters. Tentatively called the Colorado Social Media All-Hazards Response Team (COSmart), it will aim to create a cadre of high school and college age citizens to assist the state in better integrating social networking and other new personal technologies into disaster preparedness and response.

It is part of Colorado’s aggressive effort to involve youths in preparedness activities, including training programs and internships. The state sees the response team as a way to provide a platform for young people to offer their ideas on emergency readiness and tap their technological expertise, according to READYColorado’s Brandon Williams.

Williams told me that he hopes the team members will serve as “eyes and ears” in the community on disaster preparedness before and during emergency situations, helping to collect and disseminate information between citizens and the authorities and creating situational awareness with social media and other communications tools.

He says the program is still in the developmental phase. But what I like about this idea is that it addresses an aspect of the emergency management community’s challenge in figuring out how best to take advantage of the potential of new personal technology in disasters. A major question is how to institutionalize a relationship in advance with citizen users that can be tapped during emergency situations. One way to do so is to reach out to the civilians beforehand — similar to pre-positioning supplies before an emergency — and this Colorado initiative could be an important model of how do so.

Plus, it utilizes the unique knowledge of young people in social media and engages them in preparedness on their own terms. I look forward to following the initiative as it develops. Thanks to Eric Holdeman (via Garry Briese) where I first heard about this idea.

According to an article on the website Neighborhood Empowerment Network, the school’s involvement came after the San Francisco Disaster Feeding Task Force had developed a plan for the project but was having trouble funding it:

Just when the project was about to be shelved for lack of funds, the Lick Wilmerding High School junior class president, Jody Fu, contacted SF CARD (San Francisco Community Agencies Responding to Disaster) asking how the High School could help make San Francisco residents better prepared for an emergency, such as a natural disaster. The students had seen the devastation in Haiti and had contributed to the relief effort but wanted to make their own home in San Francisco a safer place as well. After just a few months of planning, fundraising, and coordination with the Task Force, the school volunteers made the program a reality.

On Saturday May 8th, class volunteers assembled food and water supplies donated by the San Francisco Food Bank into kits to be delivered to the homes of Meals On Wheels’s and Project Open Hand’s most vulnerable clients. Delivery drivers also briefed clients about disaster preparedness, gave them emergency information pamphlets and whistles from the SF Department of Emergency Management, and continue to inventory the supplies at designated intervals. The monies the students raised over many class fundraisers will go to the Food Bank to offset some of the costs of supplies and packaging.

For more information on the high school’s initiative, you can find it on the SF Emergency Department’s Facebook page here.

High school students packing emergency kits for vulnerable San Franciscans

Though the @GOHSEP feed has been up for only a month and a half, it has already become a useful model of Twitter’s use by government in emergency management crisis communications. Last month, I wrote about GOHSEP’s extra effort to thank users who were ‘retweeting’ the agency’s announcements on the oil spill — it’s the kind of small (and cost-free) reward/positive reinforcement for the public not normally done by government entities.

Since then, I’ve noticed another smart (and unusual) thing GOHSEP is doing: aggressively adding the Twitter feeds of citizens to its “following” list. It is something that a lot of government agencies in the emergency area (and actually government agencies in any field) have been hesitant to do. As of this writing, @GOHSEP has 2132 “followers” and is “following” 1892 feeds; by contrast, many governmental feeds have thousands of “followers” but only are “following” a small fraction of that number.

In an interview, GOHSEP press secretary Christina Stephens told me that the agency has found that “following” citizen feeds has become a useful information source on what is happening ‘on the ground’. She says that many of those who reach out to the agency through Twitter are involved (and informed) citizens, activists or bloggers. Not only are those people information resources for GOHSEP as it tries to deal with the quickly changing spill situation, but those same people are the ones likely to be contacting reporters with their concerns — and therefore are influencing mainstream media coverage. So, seeing what these citizens are saying on Twitter helps GOHSEP anticipate what topics reporters will be asking them about. To Stephens, not “following” individual feeds limits Twitter’s potential value to a government agency.

“Twitter is a snapshot of what people are thinking and talking about,” she explains. “People are either talking about you or talking with you. We’d prefer to talk with you.” Stephens says emergency agencies should embrace Twitter to its fullest extent as it offers government a new way of engaging the public. She says she has found that the public appreciates the responsiveness Twitter allows GOHSEP.

Yet, it has been my experience that a lot of government agencies in the emergency area are somewhat gun shy about using Twitter and other social media applications in the interactive way they are designed for and instead they use it as just another one-way, top-down method of distributing the same institutional information (ie. press releases). The hesitancy comes from a lack of expertise, commitment, manpower or confidence.

Stephens recommends that other agencies jump in and use Twitter more extensively. But she does say GOHSEP has had to develop some guidelines on the fly — for example, it will not ‘retweet’ unconfirmed information, and it avoids any kind of political content in its communications with followers.

Another government agency that has taken advantage of Twitter and has been aggressive in adding “followers” is the city of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management (@PhilaOEM). An official told me that they view the public as a resource during an emergency and see Twitter as a way to begin setting up those two-way relationships with individuals in advance. GOHSEP also has a Facebook page. Stephens said in the event of a disaster evacuation GOHSEP would use Twitter but that  – with its greater penetration numbers — would probably be even more useful.

Disaster READY Training provides students with an opportunity to learn and practice emergency readiness skills. The program is being delivered in a format that teaches a broad-range of safety skills with time devoted to practicing the newly acquired training in hands-on exercises and activities. In addition, the program gives students a chance to explore careers in emergency management, response, and preparedness from professionals working in a variety of areas and disciplines.

The middle school program is being offered on June 29, 2010 at Quest K-8 in Aurora, CO and the four day high school program is July 20 – 23, at the Denver Police Academy. Application materials are available at www.readycolorado.com/disasterREADYtraining. Space is limited and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is free and open to all middle and high school students throughout Colorado.

Thanks to the Natural Hazards Center Twitter feed for bringing this to my attention.

In the end, Ida ended up weakening and did not have as serious impact on the U.S. as originally feared. Nonetheless, Jeannette’s post offers some nice insight on the increasingly central role that social media will play in disaster response:

The Hurricane Information Center was established during the heydays of the Democratic National Convention in August 2008. As the Convention was winding down, a Ning network was established to facilitate a distributed network of volunteers who could bring together disparate sources of information into a single online platform of technology mashups.

More than 500 people participated in this effort. They identified relevant Twitter feeds; annotated maps with evacuation routes, shelters, and available resources; linked to updated news stories; and edited a hurricane Wiki in real time. In true crowdsourced fashion, this network organized itself, invited newcomers with various levels of expertise to participate, and requested assistance with identified tasks.

The value of the information available through the Hurricane Information Center existed in its resources available to those looking for real-time information. The wisdom of the crowd, its collective intelligence, and self-monitoring behavior led to an example of a real-time, online, collective action taking that rivals examples of on the ground convergence routinely seen in disasters and crisis events.

Now, as Ida ramps up, the Hurricane Information Center has re-activated itself. Today, network founder Andy Carvin of NPR, sent out a call for help through an email blast which was repeated across various network participants’ personal blogs and through Twitter networks. It’s as if the horn has been sounded for the cavalry to assemble and they are preparing to mount their horses for the long ride into a potential disaster.

The second group to sound the alarm is Emicus.com. This website, launched by a Seattle start-up company, brings together newsfeeds from government, news, and the public and adds a number of sign-on features such as the “I’m OK” notification system. Here users can use the Emicus website to send text messages to their predetermined network, relaying the message that they are OK.

This hurricane season may be the first proving ground for Emicus, which was developed in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma (2005), and Gustav and Ike (2008). The Emicus professional staff, which works out of offices in Florida, Seattle, and San Francisco, will serve as the dedicated team to monitor and relay information posted on the website.

Two dedicated groups – one comprised of volunteers across the country in a crowdsourced effort, the other developed on an enterprise model – are both preparing to deliver safety-critical information in this impending hurricane. Observations of the efforts and output should not go un-noticed by those who are interested in learning more about the wisdom of the crowd and the uses of social media to prepare, respond, and manage disasters and crisis events.

As Jeannette points out, the Hurricane Information Center and Emicus are innovators in the use of social media in disasters. One challenge going forward is to spread awareness among the public of social media’s capabilities during disasters in advance so when the bugle is blown next time more citizens know how and where to assemble.

Organized by the Ojai Valley CERT, the “OK Drill” aims to improve the community’s emergency readiness. Beginning at 7pm on October 14th, residents will be asked to: review their disaster plan and check their emergency supplies; tune into their local AM Emergency Radio stations for instructions; ‘check’ on their neighbors; and post a yellow and black “OK” sign in a window facing a street or mailbox.

In an interview on Radio Ojai last month, an “OK Drill” organizer Paul Garth provides more information about the exercise. He also makes the good point that despite the big drill “preparedness is not a single event but an ongoing conversation”. In the interview, Garth discusses the impact of his CERT training — noting the level of empowerment that can come from just pulling a fire extinguisher for the first time during training and explaining his involvement in ‘Ham Radio’.

The OK Drill is a terrific example of individual citizens working with officials to create a significant preparedness event involving all stakeholders. If you would like more information, go to okdrill.blogspot.com.

OJAI VALLEY CERT MEMBERS DURING FIRE SAFETY TRAINING (ABOVE)

I think that one way officials at local, state and federal levels can be helpful is by highlighting businesses of all sizes who are already making plans for their workforce. This attention would provide guidance, encouragement (and, in some cases, pressure) for other organizations. Using the bully pulpit in that way would underscore how seriously the government takes this and make special planning/policies for H1N1 seem like the norm not the exception. The media can also play a constructive role here by examining what is and is not being planned by organizations in their areas. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Star-Tribune recently had a couple of helpful articles along those lines which I wanted to post. According to “Next Test: Flu 101″:

…With the number of flu cases expected to peak within the next five to seven weeks and send absenteeism rates soaring, experts at a national conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday recommended that companies do what they can to make sure sick workers stay home. Suggestions include loosening sick-leave policies or allowing workers to use time off that they haven’t yet accrued.

Some companies already have taken that a step further. Medtronic Inc. is giving all its U.S. employees, including hourly workers, three extra paid sick days because of H1N1. The Fridley-based medical-device manufacturer said its decision was based on concern that workers would still come in despite being sick. “We were getting concerns from particularly the hourly side that if they’d already used up their sick time, well then what?” said Tanya Raso, Medtronic’s director of corporate risk and business continuity. “And managers were feeling some of the pressure of: ‘I’m going to send this person home and potentially they’re going to miss their car payment as a result.’ This will help alleviate concerns on both ends.” Raso said she realizes that some abuse might take place but that the company is relying on the honor code.

Best Buy is telling its managers to make sure employees know it’s OK to take sick time. It’s also telling managers to tell workers to go home if they appear to be sick. If a worker who doesn’t have sick time is sent home during a shift, managers are encouraged to pay the remainder of that day’s shift.

Target and other businesses are waiting to see just how serious the pandemic is before they solidify personnel plans. ”We’re prepared to react and be compassionate depending on the extent of the epidemic,” said Darrell Amberson, president and part-owner of Lehman’s Garage Inc., which employs just under 100 people in Minneapolis and area suburbs.

For now, he plans to shift people among Lehman’s six locations as needed if the flu hits. If it gets worse, he’s considering changing the company’s sick-leave policy. Technicians and other hourly workers earn vacation time but not sick time, but Amberson said it’s unlikely a sick employee would drag himself in if he had the flu just to save a vacation day. “I’d like to think that most of our people are pretty conscientious, and we’re small enough that we have a relatively close-knit group,” he said. “Someone would say, ‘Stay home, take it easy and we’ll cover for you. It will be OK. It’s not worth making other people sick or yourself worse to tough it out.’”

New Horizon Academy, which has 7,000 kids and 1,400 workers in 60 child-care centers in Minnesota, is taking precautions in all of its centers, even telling parents to wash their hands before they go into a classroom. Most of the workers in the centers are paid hourly and accrue paid time off (PTO) but not sick time. The Plymouth-based company is considering allowing workers to use PTO hours they haven’t yet accrued if they need to stay home because of H1N1, said Chad Dunkley, chief operating officer. It also has beefed up its list of substitutes by about two dozen in case the flu takes a toll on workers, he said.

At the conference, called “Keeping the World Working During the H1N1 Pandemic,” experts advised businesses to come up with a plan now, if they haven’t already. And the first priority should be keeping people home without fear of losing their jobs.

Another Star-Tribune article, “What employers are doing”, offers this list of corporate plans:

MEDTRONIC

•Providing three extra paid sick days for all U.S. employees, including hourly.

TARGET

•Evaluating more flexible sick-time policies if H1N1 escalates.

•Might reduce staff needed at stores if necessary to remain open.

•Offering seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations, as available, to employees and customers at some pharmacies.

•Securing hand sanitizers and masks for employees, as well as customers.

BEST BUY

•Managers encouraged to pay the remainder of a shift if employee goes home sick.

NEW HORIZON CHILD CARE

•Considering allowing employees to use more personal paid time off than they have accrued.

•Bulking up its list of substitute workers.

DELTA AIR LINES

•Following CDC recommendations; has not made operational changes related to H1N1.

The scope of the challenge for the nation when it comes to businesses and employees during a serious H1N1 pandemic was underscored this week at the conference: fewer than half of the organizations in attendance said they plan to pay employees for time off when they need to stay home to care for their children while schools are closed or to care for sick family members.

To Dudgeon and Hogan, the public preparedness challenge calls for new content and distribution approaches. That means less top down instructing of citizens and more sharing knowledge among members of the community using social media. An underpinning of the new initiative is that existing official or “branded” citizen preparedness efforts have hit a ceiling. ”We got who we’re going to get,” says Dudgeon.

“Prep SF Because It Rocks!” is being rolled out in stages beginning with an “unbranded” Facebook page which is not web linked with the SFDEM official sites including www.72 hours.org. This is not viewed by organizers as a one-time “campaign” but instead as an effort to create a “preparedness movement” which will become part of San Franciscans’ everyday lives.

I was particularly impressed with their strategic approach to the issue laid out in the presentation, which began with a thoughtful analysis of other preparedness efforts and academic social science. Though the initiative is very localized to reflect the City of San Francisco, there are many elements in “Prep SF” that are transferable (and localizable) to any area in the U.S. I recommend becoming a Facebook “Fan” of “Prep SF” not only if you are in Bay Area but also if you are interested in creative preparedness/public education efforts.

INTERVIEW WITH ROB DUDGEON AND KRISTIN HOGAN ON “PREP SF BECAUSE IT ROCKS!” (ABOVE)

“I have been a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member in Cobb County, Georgia since 2004. It all started with my desire to help my family and neighbors to survive a disaster. I started searching on the internet to find out if any volunteer opportunities were being offered in my community, and that’s how I found CERT through Citizen Corps and ultimately Cobb County.

I participated in exercises, drills, training and recruitment opportunities. I took numerous FEMA independent courses in emergency management until I decided to enroll in a formal study program in emergency management. That is when I started the graduate certificate program in emergency management at Georgia State University.

Today that knowledge has allowed me to create a ministry in my church focusing on awareness of emergency management including conducting drills, exercises and training. Through that ministry, I have created vital documents such as emergency operations procedures for church and faith-based schools, continuity of operations plans, and evacuation plans–documents that I am happy to share with my neighbors.

In addition to the purpose of sharing those documents, and in the spirit of cooperation, I have established communication between the church and the Public Safety authorities including, the sheriff, police, fire and emergency management departments in the county. After all how good is a plan if it not shared with those who are there to help you?”

To read more stories of volunteers like Lisbeth R. or add your own, go to http://serve.gov/stories_safety.asp.